Affiliate marketing is a vast landscape of varied niches that overlap at their core. From influencers to content creators, all affiliates seek to make the right contacts and reach the right audience. Since affiliate conferences provide the opportunity to connect affiliates with brands, it seems they’re the place to be for anyone aiming to make meaningful relationships in this field. But do these conferences live up to the hype?
The Advantages of Attending Affiliate Conferences
Affiliate conferences provide the chance to build on networking opportunities by connecting with potential partners and deepening existing partnerships. Plus, affiliates can develop meaningful connections with other affiliates and organizations.
Affiliates can also participate in panel discussions on various topics, such as ‘The Rise of Female Gamers – Will the Gaming Industry Keep Pace?’ During these discussions, industry experts share their knowledge with an attentive audience eager to develop their skills. Plus, there are numerous educational workshops to help you learn more.
Brands are also likely to share sneak peeks at new technologies, allowing affiliates to get ahead of competitors through first looks at emerging products and services.
How To Build Credibility and Trust
There are a few different ways to build credibility within these spaces. If you don’t yet have an established presence within the affiliate marketing community, showcasing your expertise and skills through panel discussions and workshops will win you peer recognition.
Getting directly in touch and building relationships with the organizers also helps solidify your presence as an affiliate marketer, showing fellow conference attendees that you’re trustworthy.
Virtual vs. In-Person Conferences
Virtual affiliate conferences allow advertisers, networks, and affiliates to connect no matter their geographic location. Plus, there’s the added benefit of reducing expenses related to HR, equipment for the organization, and living arrangements for attendees. In-person conferences require ample space to host thousands of people, and attendees usually must travel far, entailing more planning and budgeting.
Choosing the correct kind of affiliate conference based on your goals is essential. Virtual conferences are the way to go if you primarily want to acquire industry knowledge. In-person conferences provide more opportunities to develop close relationships between affiliates and brands. At clovio, we enjoy talking to partners face-to-face, so we prefer to travel and physically attend.
Tips for Maximizing Conference Value
As conferences entail a significant investment of time and money, it’s best to ensure these are well spent. To do so, setting clear goals and intentions beforehand can help build a strategy for networking and learning opportunities. Additionally, it’s important to follow up on the connections made once the conference has ended and calendars begin to clear up.
Each conference comes with its own set of advice. For Affiliate Summit West, Heleen, our Head of Partnerships, go the following suggestions:
- Don’t have breakfast meetings (as Las Vegas will get you).
- Go to the Chandelier bar in the Cosmopolitan after the show.
- Slide a $50 tip in your passport to get a room upgrade.
- Pick up your badge early.
- Calculate 30 minutes between meetings if you have meetings at other hotels.
Some of the biggest conferences are Affiliate Summit West, Affiliate Summit East, Affiliate World Europe, SiGMA, iGB Affiliate London, iPX23, Web Summit, and PI LIVE. clovio has chosen Affiliate Summit West, SiGMA, and iGB Affiliate London as its preferred affiliate conferences to attend every year.
Best Affiliate Conferences to Attend
Affiliate Summit West
Affiliate Summit West was Affiliate Summit’s first event in 2005. Since then, it has gathered thousands of affiliates, advertisers, networks, and tech suppliers together over three fulfilling days.
Affiliate Summit West provides numerous networking opportunities through meetups, bookable meetings, lounge areas, and parties. Plus, there are many learning opportunities through different panels hosted by industry experts. ASW offers limited free passes, allowing affiliates to attend the entire conference for free, and provides an Official Event app for all attendees.
SiGMA Europe
Founded in 2014, the SiGMA Group offers Eurasia, Asia, Europe, Africa, and Americas Summits, focusing on iGaming, emerging technologies, digital health, and affiliate marketing. At SiGMA Europe, over 20,000 attendees enjoy a week of networking opportunities, allowing online gambling affiliates to connect with casino and sportsbook operators.
iGB Affiliate London
IGB Affiliate London connects thousands of iGaming affiliates, networks, agencies, advertisers, publishers, and affiliate programs. The many networking and learning opportunities allow attendees to develop the right partnerships and acquire new knowledge and skills.
Affiliate Summit West, affiliates can attend iGB for free, regardless of whether they’re well-established or just starting out.
iGaming Club
For iGaming affiliates, AffPapa’s iGaming Club is also a must. Bringing together affiliates, operators, and B2B providers in the online gambling industry, iGaming Club aims to provide networking opportunities through VIP dinners, conferences, and more.
Will You Be Attending?
At clovio, we enjoy attending affiliate conferences as they allow us to get closer to our partners and industries and showcase our abilities and audience. During conferences, we get to meet brands and fellow affiliates and acquire new knowledge by watching and participating in panels and discussing industry matters with experts. This January, we will be at ASW once more and hope to connect with you there!
Leave a Reply